Azerbaijan continues good results with golden Yashar Najafov

Azerbaijani Yashar Najafov had his best day in his judo career winning the Grand Prix in Zagreb in a tough field where some of the favourites went out quickly. To get to the final Najafov blew out Bulgarian Yanislav Gerchev in the semi-finals. His opponent was Italian outsider Matteo Piras. Azerbaijan continues to show good results in the IJF World Tour.

At 28 years old, Matteo Piras is number 210 in the world. In other words, his name is not the first that comes to mind when making predictions, but Piras likes to be contrary. After taking silver in the Mediterranean Games, Piras has decided to extend his streak and Zagreb is not a bad place to take a podium place. The Italian defeated the Romanian Lucian Bors Dumitrescu and won his passport to a first final on the World Judo Tour.

Both Piras and Najafov were contesting their first final at this level but with golden aspirations. It was Nafajov who scored waza-ari, debuting his international record.

Bayanmunkh added a bronze for Mongolia’s tally by defeating Gerchev in golden score.

Dutchman Ivo Verhorstert is not your typical Dutchman. Seeing a Dutch lightweight is a refreshing novelty. Verhorstert earned a place in the fight for a bronze, but for that he had to get past the Romanian Bors Dumitrescu. The most difficult thing was not to score the waza-ari, something that Verhorstert managed after three attacks, but to escape a third shido, which would have thrown away all the efforts of the Dutchman. The problem was that the Romanian reacted immediately and returned the compliment with an equalising waza-ari. They both deserved to win because they gave it their all, attacking relentlessly, which is what we all want to see. In golden score the Dutchman won a bronze that opens up new possibilities for his team.